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Accenture (ACN) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Accenture (ACN - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $332.92, moving +0.08% from the previous trading session. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.85%.

Coming into today, shares of the consulting company had gained 4.39% in the past month. In that same time, the Business Services sector lost 1.96%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.85%.

ACN will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be September 23, 2021. In that report, analysts expect ACN to post earnings of $2.19 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 28.82%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $13.48 billion, up 24.42% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $8.79 per share and revenue of $50.58 billion. These totals would mark changes of +17.83% and +14.1%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for ACN. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. ACN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Looking at its valuation, ACN is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 37.83. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 22.73, so we one might conclude that ACN is trading at a premium comparatively.

We can also see that ACN currently has a PEG ratio of 3.78. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Consulting Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.41 at yesterday's closing price.

The Consulting Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 34, putting it in the top 14% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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